Towers or Bookshelf speakers

Storminone

I'm starting to redo the home theater in my rec room and need some thoughts on what to go with as far as front mains. My old system was HK AVR-80, JBL SVA Center, 4 JBL Sat-1s, and a Kenwood SW-300 sub. Space is a concern and I had the sats on the walls and center on a table below the 42" plasma with me about 7 to 9 feet away from it.
The system is about 10 years old and not sounding like it used to so I started purchasing pieces over the last few months.

Yamaha RX-V465 receiver
CS10 center
Monitor 30s which are being used as fronts currently wall mounted

I want to move up to a fuller sound but I don't know if I should go with 30s, 40s, or move up to towers and hang the plasma on the wall. If I do that I can fit 50s or 60s BUT they would only be 6 inches or so off the sides of the TV. Bookshelf speakers I can pretty much mount anywhere because wall space I have floor space is a premium.

Any thoughts on if the sound field would be too localized or muddy with all 3 (L/C/R) being so close together? Or should I stick with a bookshelf and space them appropriately?

engtaz

Towers for mains. Fuller sound and better directional sound. Better for 2 channel also.

sucks2beme

Towers. Otherwise you have to buy stands. The inwall solution is
the exception. Or, if you have a really big tv stand with room for the speakers.
From a sound perspective, towers are the better choice in most cases.

Storminone

Thanks for the responses.

I work a few blocks away from J & R so I'll run over next week and see how the brackets look, maybe they have other types in stock. I can also listen to the TSI 200s since they don't carry 40s only 30s.

They do have 50s in stock for $99 so I'll take a listen to them too because after looking at the area I can move a bookcase and free it up so I have almost 2 feet separation from the TV to the speakers on either side.

If I do get 40s I just don't want them getting overpowered by the CS10 like the 30s do but that could be the entry level Yamaha I have powering them. Wish I could go back to the HK with its clean power but no digital input on it and would need a processor :mad:

cnh

WELCOME TO CLUB POLK!

I used to live in Manhattan myself, visited J&R many times. And have bought from them online. Never had any problems.

On another note. I would NOT worry about he CS10 overpowering any of your speakers..neither the M30s, 40s or 50s? If you're experiencing that, it's just a setting problem....just lower the dbs on the CS10 by a few.

BTW I have some 20+ versions of home JBL monitors that sound as good as DAY 1 today! I know a lot of guys here don't like the Lansings...but these are 'pretty' good!

Good luck!

cnh

Trenchant

Monitor 70's are onsale dirt cheap. You wouldn't regret going with them.

You mentioned wallmounting your tv if you bought towers. Check out monoprice for a high quality but inexpensive wall mount. I bought one from them last january and noticed it was the same as the ones they were selling in local stores. Only difference was the ones locally in stores were $250 and monoprice had them for $30!

Storminone

xcapri79 wrote: »

Welcome to Club Polk.
A pair of wall mounted Monitor 40's would be an improvement over the Monitor 30's and give you better separation than if you used floor standing Monitor 50's or Monitor 60's.

You can pick up a pair of Monitor 40's fro a good price from Polk Direct on ebay.

The Pinpoint AM-40 mounting bracket can be used to mount the Monitor 40's.
http://www.jr.com/pinpoint/pe/PPT_AM40

The following post is a good example of how to mount them.
http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=93943

UPDATE

I ran over to J & R the other day and picked up the AM-40 brackets. WOW these things are big, heavy and bulletproof. I would recommend them to anyone looking to hold a bookshelf for main or surround.

They also have sporadically been getting in Monitor 50s and selling them for $99 each. They currently have none in stock but I got to listen to the pair of floor models they have against the tsi200s. They don't carry the 40s.
It most likely was the speakers but IMO the 50s sounded muffled/muddy compared to the 200s. Is that normal?

Other thing is I need to bring my own CD to listen to since sales guy whipped out an ipod and played that saying they have no cds to test.

pearsall001

engtaz wrote: »

Towers for mains. Fuller sound and better directional sound. Better for 2 channel also.

Really! That's a good one. I take it you never had your ears on a great pair of monitors paired with great subs. A force to be reckoned with.

wutadumsn23

Having heard both the TSi and Monitor series, IMHO the Monitors are the way to go. I have a set of TSi 500's that I use as surrounds, and they are awesome, but I still prefer the Monitors, esp. at the prices they can be had for these days. One word of caution though, be careful mixing the TSi and Monitor series in your front soundstage, it is always best to keep your front three timbre matched, and in my personal experience my CS2 did not play well with my TSi 500's, which is why I use them as surrounds. Good luck and keep us posted. Welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

cnh

Storminone wrote: »

UPDATE

I ran over to J & R the other day and picked up the AM-40 brackets. WOW these things are big, heavy and bulletproof. I would recommend them to anyone looking to hold a bookshelf for main or surround.

They also have sporadically been getting in Monitor 50s and selling them for $99 each. They currently have none in stock but I got to listen to the pair of floor models they have against the tsi200s. They don't carry the 40s.
It most likely was the speakers but IMO the 50s sounded muffled/muddy compared to the 200s. Is that normal?

Other thing is I need to bring my own CD to listen to since sales guy whipped out an ipod and played that saying they have no cds to test.

No, that's not normal. I own a pair of TSI-300s and have heard M-50s numerous times. If I had to compare the two, I'd say the M-50s are a bit lighter and brighter....but definitely NEVER muffled. Must be the speaker set up. And I've heard M-50s in a lot of set ups. Even in an old CC room where they sounded more 'alive' than every other tower in the room, which included Bostons and Klipsch towers. Everything sounded 'muddy' compared to the Polks? So, yeah....some problems with the set up there?

cnh

Storminone

wutadumsn23 wrote: »

Having heard both the TSi and Monitor series, IMHO the Monitors are the way to go. I have a set of TSi 500's that I use as surrounds, and they are awesome, but I still prefer the Monitors, esp. at the prices they can be had for these days. One word of caution though, be careful mixing the TSi and Monitor series in your front soundstage, it is always best to keep your front three timbre matched, and in my personal experience my CS2 did not play well with my TSi 500's, which is why I use them as surrounds. Good luck and keep us posted. Welcome to Club Polk.

-Jeff

As it stands now I can hear a difference between the CS10 and Monitor 30s up front depending on what I'm listening to. With the cost of TSI 200s at 300 and Monitor 40s at 140 I'm not too sure which way to go. Right in the middle of those prices would be to buy 2 more CS10s and use them as L C R but I have no clue how they sound when turned vertical.

I might try that tonight and sub the CS10 for a main see how it sounds

Storminone

Tried the CS10 as a main speaker and didn't care for it. It was like it was lacking something but live and learn.
So I've decided on towers and just have to decide on the 50, 60, or 70. I'm leaning towards the 70s in black if I can find them on sale near the price of 60s.

Storminone

Monitor 60s are on the way

spock 2054

I would have waited for newegg to get more of these sweet soundin 70's in cherry for that doorbusting price of 149. I upgraded from bookshelf jbl e20's to the monitor 70's. Space is tight for me too, but the difference in the imaging is like night and day. Pick up the 70's if they have an insane price on them again and use the 60's for surrounds. Have you thought about upgrading your tv? I'm 10 feet away from my 65' dlp and it's great...my wife loves the cherry finish. 5 stars for the WAF score..

Storminone

spock 2054 wrote: »

I would have waited for newegg to get more of these sweet soundin 70's in cherry for that doorbusting price of 149. I upgraded from bookshelf jbl e20's to the monitor 70's. Space is tight for me too, but the difference in the imaging is like night and day. Pick up the 70's if they have an insane price on them again and use the 60's for surrounds. Have you thought about upgrading your tv? I'm 10 feet away from my 65' dlp and it's great...my wife loves the cherry finish. 5 stars for the WAF score..

Sweet rig.

I just got the Panny 1080P plasma last year so I have some time before I move up which is most likely to a projector. And I was thinking about grabbing the 70s if I see black ones on sale but I need to up the power first. I saw some Outlaw pre's and amps used that looked pretty decent but 1 thing at a time.

Best thing is I convinced the wife that moving the furniture around to get me more space is a good thing and gives her more space too.